mantisshrimp69 2025-12-08 07:23 a.m.If the chattel was evidence; he needed to be given a warning. Grand/petty theft does not apply to evidence and the state code is very clear about this. Evidence theft, or evidence theft relating to firearms, expressly requires a warning and the state cannot bypass this requirement by calling it grand theft instead of what it is.
If the chattel was not evidence: Armory v Delmirie applied. Though there is no “good faith” requirement of a possessory finder (I literally do not know where the state pulled this from, all you need is a finder and additional conditions if the owner should reasonably located, which is not the case because a reasonable person would not try to locate someone they know to be dead to return property) my client was acting in good faith. He wanted to keep this firearm that he found. It was not reasonable for him to attempt to locate someone who is dead to return the firearm, so he didn’t. Therefore, the chattel is his under Armory.